Improved railroad-switch



PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. STOWELL, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVED RAILROAD-SWITCH.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,736, dated June 19, .1.866.

To all whom fit may concern,.- v

Beit known that I, WILLIAM J. S'roWELL, ot' Baltimore, in the county of Baltimore and Slate ofMaryland, have invented an Improved Railroad'Safety-Switch5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part ot' this specitication, in which- Figure l a plan view of my safetyswitch applied at thejunction of the main track with a siding, showing the switch-rail adjusted for the inain track. Fig. 2isa similar view, showing the switch-rail adjusted for the siding. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the switcli-rail only.

Similar letters ot' reference indicate corresponding parts in the several t'igures.

This invention is intended for preventing railroad-cars from running oit'the track at the junction ot sidings with theinain trackin consequence ot' an improper adjustment ot' the switch-rails.

'Ilie invention contemplates effecting all that I have set forth in my patent otl March 20, 1866, but in a much more simple and substantial manner, by having only one side of the switch-junction movable, and so constructing this movable portion that it will prevent a train ot'cars t'roin ruiming oft' the track whether suoli train passes from the main track upon the siding or from the siding upon the main track, or whether it passes from one section toanother ot' the main track across a misplaced switch, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describe its con struction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A A represent the sections ot' rails forming the main track, and B B are the sections of rails forming the siding. These rails are spiked down uponcross-ties, as represented in Figs. l and 2. A short guard-rail, C, extends from the termination of the rail-sectioii B onward and toward the section A, tor the purpose of assist ing in guiding the car-wheels from the siding onto the main track, and also from the main` track onto the siding. This guardrail is spiked down iirinly, and between it and the maintrack section A is a web or plate., a, and also a point, b, which are suitably secured in their places. The steel or iron point terminates the end of the section ot' rail B and serves to guide the iianges ot' the wheels on one side ot the track when the train passes t'roin one track to another. r

The horizontal web a, into which the point I) is secured, may be made ot' cast-iron, ot' the exact t'orni to lit the rails A and C, between which it is secured, so as to serve as a bridgesupport for the iianges ot' the wheels when a train passes t'roin the main track onto the siding, or vice versa.

The inaiirtrack railsection A is spiked down, so that it will break joints with the stationary portion ofthe switch, as shown in Figs. land 2, thus affording great strength and safety t'roin anyT accidental springing ot said rail.

D E represent the movable sections ot' rails, which are secured together by means of bolts or clamps, or both, so that they sha-lllnove together and not beliable to separate. rIhe section D is constructed -with an enlarged head, c, on one end and with an inclined plane, c, which terminates at its highest point in a plane with the surface ot' its 'rail-head, as shown in Fig. 3. The section E, which is secured on the inside ot' this section D, is also constructed with a laterally-swelled head,e, and a projecting inclined plane,j', on one end, the other end being slightly curved inward, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The enlargements on the ends of the switch-rail sections D and E may be equal in width to double the width of a railhead.

rIlie inside edge of the head of the rail-section D is straight, and the opposite or outside edge of the sect-ioii Eis also straight fora portion of its length. These two sections D and E are suitably pivoted to a cross-tie, F, at their smallest ends, so that the rail-section D will always be either in a line with the main-track rails A or in a line with the siding-rail B' and inain-track rail, as shown in Figs. l and 2.

When the rail D is adjusted in a line with the main-track rails A', as shown in Fig. l, a'

top of the enlargement c of the rail-section D, and then drop down between this sect-ion D and the guard-section E.

When the rails D and E are adjusted, as shown in Fig. 2, for passing a train of cars on the siding from the main track or on the main track from the siding, the swelled end of the rail E will be brought opposite the end ofthe main-track rail A', and thel'irojeeting inclined tonguef will be brought up alongside of this rail A', so as to elevate the wheels ot' a passing train upon the top of the section E, over which they will be guided by the main-track rail A on the opposite side of the track and caused to drop down between the two sections D and F.

Vhenjhe switch is adjusted for the siding, as shown above, and carelessly left-in this position. a train of cars approaching the switch from one direction on the'main track will be guided safely upon the siding, and thus give the engineer time to brake up and stop the train. When the train on the main track is approaching the switch in an opposite direction the wheels on one side of the track will pass diagonally over the top ofthe inner movable section,E, and on the main-track rails again.

Thus it will be seen that in whatever direction the train may pass over the switch it will not be liable to run oft'.

The most essential feature of my invention is to effect the switching ot' the train from one track to another by means of a single side switch,instead of having the rails on both sides ot' the track to move, as heretofore done.

By my improved switch I anrenabled to secure the rail-section on one side of the track down rigidly to the crosseties and make a more permanent switch, and one which will not be liable to derangelnent from long use.

The movable sections E D are firmly united together and held down upon the cross-ties, so that their enlarged ends can be moved laterally and brought opposite the ends of the rails A' B by means of switch-levers, which levers can be constructed in any of the well-known modes.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The construction ofthe movable guard E, with a projecting tongue, f, in combination with the swelled head c oi' this guard and the two rail-sections A D, arranged to operate substantially as described.

2. The combination ot the rail-section D, which is constructed with an enlarged head, e, and inclined plane c', with the guard (l and the web or bridge a, substantially as described.

3. The movable switch-rails D E, when constructed substantially as described and combined with stationary guide-rails 011 the opposite side of the track, substantially in the manner and for the purposes specified.

w. J. sTowuLL.

Witnesses:

MARIoN W. KAUFFMAN, HENRY H. DUnKEE. 

